How Jay-Z brought Pharrell and Justin Timberlake together: “Y’all need to work together”
Justin Timberlake’s success in pop music owes a lot to his own talent, to be sure, but without the help of Pharrell Williams, perhaps things wouldn’t have gone so well.
As Timberlake sought to put his NSYNC days behind him and to make it as a solo artist, he turned to the Neptunes and Timbaland, among others, for help. Between them, Timbaland and the Neptunes duo of Pharrell and Chad Hugo produced most of Timberlake’s debut solo album, Justified, which became a sensation following its 2002 release.
Justified elevated Timberlake into superstar status, while it also did wonders for the reputations of producers Timbaland, Hugo and Pharrell. But, had Pharrell not been introduced to Timberlake by another rapper, perhaps this fateful collaboration might not have come to fruition.
Jay-Z, who knew both Timberlake and Pharrell, was the one to bring them together at a New York nightclub, as Pharrell revealed during a 2014 conversation with the Associated Press.
“He was there with a couple guys from NSYNC,” Pharrell recalled, “and Jay was like, ‘You have to meet this guy Justin Timberlake from NSYNC.’ I was like, ‘Oh, okay, cool.’”
Jay, somehow, recognised the potential musical chemistry between them, and he encouraged them to collaborate. “Y’all need to work together,” he apparently insisted. Pharrell didn’t see why not, so he agreed.
The Neptunes produced the NSYNC song ‘Girlfriend,’ which featured Nelly. Upon its release in 2002, it became the final NSYNC track to enter into the top ten of the American singles chart. It was a success, but it was just setting the stage for the greater triumphs to come when Timberlake went solo.
The Neptunes produced ‘Señorita,’ ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Rock Your Body’ from Justified, and they were just the big hits. They also oversaw the production of several of the album tracks, while Timbaland handled the majority of the rest.
Pharrell’s introduction to Timberlake also led to further work for the Neptunes. Timberlake, clearly taken by the production duo, encouraged Pharrell to work with his girlfriend from the time. That was Britney Spears, for whom the Neptunes went on to produce ‘I’m a Slave 4 U,’ ‘Boys’ and ‘Why Should I Be Sad?’